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Absolute Linux is an open-source and completely free operating system derived from the well-known Slackware Linux distribution, designed from the ground up to be low on resources, easy to install and full featured, as it includes a great selection of software and out-of-the-box support for multimedia playback.

The OS can only be installed

It is distributed as a single, installable-only ISO image of approximately 700MB in size, which will support both 32-bit (i386) and 64-bit (x86_64) hardware platforms. The user must write the ISO image to either a CD disc or a USB thumb drive in order to boot it from the BIOS of a computer.

You can easily add extra kernel parameters to the boot prompt

The boot prompt is text-based and very minimal. It mostly includes instructions on how to add extra kernel parameters, but basically the user should just press the Enter key on his or her keyboard in order to start the installation.

It’s easy to install, despite the fact that it uses a text-mode installer

Anyone who attempted to install Slackware Linux knows that it features a text-mode installer that it not so newbie-friendly. Pretty much the same installer is used on Absolute Linux, but things were made a little bit more user-friendly.

The installer script features an AUTOSETUP option that, once selected, will automatically partition the disk and install the operating system with few options. However, you must select a target drive, a keyboard layout, the installation source, and configure various basic settings.

Traditional graphical desktop environment powered by Xfce

Xfce is used as the default and only graphical desktop environment inside Absolute Linux. It features a single-panel layout and a great selection of open source applications designed from the ground up to keep things lightweight.

We recommend this Linux distribution to people who want to transform a low-end machine or a computer with old and semi-old hardware components into a rock-solid and stable workstation.

It's been a long road back, but here it is. Everythibng has caught up to Slackware (x86), up to and including a recompile with patch for the latest glibc security patch of 20140826. Even have pulseaudio working to keep the Skypers happy :-)

Base install still fits easily onto a CD. If you want to burn a DVD or, more likely, plop the iso onto a usb stick -- there is also a "large" version of the ISO, which includes LibreOffice, the kernel source, calibre, Inkscape, Skype, Artha dictionary/thesaurus and several developer tools.